Blog for February 2018

Daily Links

Flutter is an open source mobile UI framework that allows developers to make super-fast, cross-platform mobile apps. The beta also works with a pre-release of Dart 2, with improved support for declaring UI in code with minimal language ceremony.

According to a Reuters report, the online retailer agreed to buy Ring, maker of connected video doorbells and smart home security cameras, for reportedly more than $1 billion. Amazon's acquisition of Ring comes a few months after the company purchased Blink, a maker of smart home security cameras, for a reported $90 million.

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Subway MyWay Rewards will offer four tokens for every dollar spent and once 200 tokens have been reached ($50 worth of spending), a $2.00 reward will be granted. So that works out a $2 discount on $50 spent, or 4% off.

Thursday, February 22nd, 2018

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"The core technology behind Swype will continue to be utilized and improved upon across other Nuance offerings - and integrated into our broader AI-powered solutions - most notably in Android-based keyboard solutions for our automotive customers," the company said.

Tuesday, February 20th, 2018

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On the inside, the drive has nine flash controllers driving 32 1TB packages of NAND flash, with each package containing 16 layers of 512Gb 3-bit-per-cell V-NAND. There's also 40GB of DDR4 RAM. The RAM is unusual, too; the 8Gb chips are built using Through Silicon Vias (TSVs), enabling them to be stacked vertically. They're assembled into 10 packages each of 4GB.

"The app, which begins rolling out today, is just one part of everything we’ve got planned. We’re currently working on bringing Google Pay to all Google products, so whether you’re shopping on Chrome or with your Assistant, you’ll have a consistent checkout experience using the cards saved to your Google Account. We’re also working with partners online and in stores, so you’ll see Google Pay on sites, in apps, and at your favorite places around the world."

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"For those asking, yes, these changes came about in part due to our settlement with Getty Images this week. They are designed to strike a balance between serving user needs and publisher concerns, both stakeholders we value."

Thursday, February 15th, 2018

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"We've previously discussed some of the details surrounding how Chrome protects users from intrusive ads, but as we approach the launch date of February 15, we wanted to go under the hood and discuss how this feature works in more detail."

Monday, February 12th, 2018

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The sketchy investment platform, which promised to earn backers’ money with its proprietary trading algorithm, has abruptly gone dark after raising $4.5 million in a series of initial coin offerings (ICO). The company has since also pulled its website and deleted its social media fingerprint, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Telegram accounts.

Friday, February 9th, 2018

Daily Links

Winnipeggers now have access to thousands of classic movies, documentaries and independent films for free with their library card. On Friday, the Winnipeg Public Library became the latest Canadian library system to partner with the online streaming service Kanopy.

"The danger in playing a game is not the game itself, but the desire it may cause - since in Buddhist thought, desire is the cause of suffering. 'If you lose or win, you want to do it again and again. You’re always thinking about the game. If you cling to that mindset, it causes mental suffering or physical suffering.'"

"Old source code from three years ago appears to have been leaked, but by design the security of our products doesn't depend on the secrecy of our source code. There are many layers of hardware and software protections built into our products, and we always encourage customers to update to the newest software releases to benefit from the latest protections."

Daily Links

Daily Links

"The internet's most popular icon toolkit has been redesigned and built from scratch. On top of this, features like icon font ligatures, an SVG framework, official NPM packages for popular frontend libraries like React, and access to a new CDN."

According to leaked documents provided to Microsoft's partners, with version 1803, Windows 10 S will be a mode of Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Education, and Windows 10 Pro, rather than a distinct version. Switching Windows 10 Home S and Windows 10 Education S to regular Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Education will be free; switching from Pro S to Pro will continue to cost $49.